Shady Shores council members request help of residents, $600,000

Shady Shores council members are asking
residents to help prioritize town needs, which include road and drainage repair
and the eventual establishment of a town police department.

During a regular Town Council meeting
last Monday, council members approved a motion to appoint residents to police
and road advisory committees. The two committees were created to help pinpoint
issues facing the town while receiving input from residents.

The council said addressing damaged
roads and drainage will probably be among the town’s largest expenses and the
road committee’s most daunting task. Mayor Pro Tem Cindy Spencer said the town
could spend nearly $2 million on road and drainage repairs.

Council members requested about $600,000
in the town’s upcoming budget to begin aggressive repairs, Mayor Jerry Williams
said. In a July council meeting, Williams said the road crews were doing only
minimal patchwork.

Williams said that all the roads can’t
be fixed in one budget year without a substantial tax increase. For now, he
said, the town’s engineer has compiled a “wish list” for roads and drainage
issues.

The police service committee will be
used to help lead the possible development of a town police service. The
committee will examine the options and cost for the town to provide its own
police service.

The town contracts with Corinth for law
enforcement services, and on Aug. 6, it renewed its contract for police
services for the next five years for about $130,000.

Shady Shores has already looked
extensively at starting its own police department, addressing the issue a few
years ago. However, officials decided it wasn’t feasible to hire the necessary
personnel to run a department in such a small town.

The council created the committees after
deciding to table a vote to establish a five-year master plan for the town. A
strategy committee built the plan, which called for modifications to the town’s
infrastructure for the next five years.

Spencer said the newly created
committees differ from strategy committees in that they’ll focus on one area
instead of multiple issues.

“The council, with the research provided
by these two committees, will make decisions for the best solutions to these
issues,” she said.

Council member John Reedy said he thinks
the addition of another committee will delay the road repairs. He said the
master plan was reliable because it was based on the expertise of an engineer.
He added he thinks the resident committee will create bias.

Williams said the plan presented
excellent visions for the town but also said the majority of the council agreed
major strategy changes are not needed.

“The consensus of the council was that
the town is progressing in the right direction,” Williams said. “They just did
not feel like an action motion was needed at this time to go forward with the
issues in the town.”

Williams said the council will look to
the new advisory committees for further input.

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